The present invention relates generally to recording route travel and more specifically, but not by way of limitation, to the providing of travel route maps and travel route data in an accurate, timely, and retrievable fashion.
There are a variety of well known approaches for providing travel route data and travel route maps. The most common approach is to use pre-prepared maps and to record travel route data manually in a record book based on map reading, and sources of distance such as an odometer. Disadvantages of such an approach include the possibility of error in map location and in computing mileage.
A method used in some aircraft is to utilize a LORAN receiver which will provide direction and distance-to-waypoints. This method does not provide route maps, or easily retrievable route data.
Recently the U.S. global positioning system (GPS) has become available as an accurate navigation position and velocity sensor. Similarly, the Russian Global Satellite Navigation System (GLONASS) is expected to be available for similar purposes. However, GPS sensing is plagued by line-of-sight obscuration of the GPS satellite signals by physical objects resulting in temporary inaccuracy or dropout of GPS satellite sensing during these periods of dropouts. Such augmenting sensor systems are known and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,693 issued Dec. 24, 1991 to McMillan et al for a "PRIMARY LAND ARCTIC NAVIGATION SYSTEM", in U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,212 issued Feb. 20, 1990 to Yokouchi et al for a "GPS/SELF-CONTAINED COMBINATION TYPE NAVIGATION SYSTEM", and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,919 issued Feb. 11, 1992 to Odagawa et al for an "ON-BOARD NAVIGATION APPARATUS".
Some current systems utilizing GPS provide a pre-stored map which requires initialization of a known carrier/vehicle location with the same location on the map. The route of the map carrier/vehicle can then be noted on the map as the GPS satellite signals provide position information. Since the pre-stored map can be inaccurate, the vehicle location may have to be re-initialized on the map. Typically, this type of system does not provide a map readout of the route, but only the current location on the pre-stored map. Also, such systems do not provide route altitude data or percentage incline data.
Such prior art pre-stored map systems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,165 issued Dec. 8, 1992 to Iioshi et al for an "APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING TRAVEL PATH" which uses map pattern matching to locate position on a pre-stored map, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,826 issued Feb. 18, 1992 to Yano et al for a "NAVIGATION SYSTEM FOR MOVABLE BODY" which uses pre-stored map scrolling to assist in position maintenance, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,157 issued Feb. 21, 1989 to Fukushima et al for a "METHOD OF DISPLAYING A MAP" which describes a method for digital storage of a pre-stored map and features, and the previously cited U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,919 issued to Odagawa et al which uses auxiliary navigation sensor data to correct position on a current pre-stored map.
Existing trip computer systems provide trip data information, such as speed, mileage, and time from which other trip values can be computed. These trip computer systems have utilized odometers based on pulsed output of a wheel sensor with its inherent inaccuracies. This type of system has been modified to provide accumulative numerical data for business and tax purposes by U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,167 issued Oct. 17, 1989 to Price et al for an "ODOMETER DATA COMPUTING APPARATUS".
A number of different methods have been developed for recording road feature or asset inventory data. These methods use odometer or GPS for distance measuring purposes. The feature data is stored for later retrieval. An improvement to these feature recording systems is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,164 issued Dec. 8, 1992 to Lewis for an "APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR RECORDING CUSTOMIZED ROAD FEATURE DESCRIPTIONS WITH FEATURE LOCATION DATA" which permits single operator operation of the vehicle and feature recording apparatus. This apparatus uses digital audio recording and digital navigation data storage for later retrieval use. It does not provide precise real time travel route plots nor current display of user data.
Features which are not present in all known travel route data and travel route map systems utilizing GPS, or GPS with augmenting sensors, include the lack of a precise real time route traveled map display, and GPS satellite based auxiliary information for business travel income tax purposes, such as accumulated trip mileage, accumulated trip cost, and trip start and termination locations.
The purpose of this invention is then to automate and provide a precise real time travel route map display, and an accurate GPS/GLONASS based data bank of all trips that is available at the user's convenience for uses such as company business trip reimbursement, IRS travel business expense reporting, rally route and altitude and speed information and personal trip diary. This invention will reduce the user's required activity to produce such data bank records and map displays by automating the generation of route map displays and data banks. This invention is applicable to a wide range of vehicles, autos, trucks, marine vessels, aircraft, snowmobiles. tractors, motorcycles, and basically any vehicle that moves under human control and has access to the GPS or GLONASS radio frequency (RF) signals, as well as to non-vehicular carriers.